A cloudburst over Lhonak Lake in North Sikkim triggered a flash flood in the Teesta river basin on Wednesday, killing 14 people and leaving 102 others missing, including 22 army personnel.
The flash flood washed away 11 bridges, destroyed 277 houses, and caused extensive damage to the NH-10, which is considered the lifeline of the state.
Chungthang town bore the maximum brunt of the flood, with 80 percent of it being severely affected.
Seven people died in Pakyong district, four people died in Mangan, and three persons lost their lives in Gangtok.
Among the 102 missing persons, 59 are from Pakyong, including the army personnel. Twenty-two are missing in Gangtok, 16 in Mangan, and five people are missing in Namchi.
A total of 26 people sustained injuries.
Defence spokesperson Lt Col Mahendra Rawat said the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) was helping the state in the rescued operations in Chungthang and Mangan, where four critical bridges have been severely damaged.
“More than 200 people have been moved to safer areas by the BRO in spite of continuous heavy rainfall and extremely bad weather,” he said.
“Search and rescue operations for the missing army personnel are still on,” he added.
About 10,000 people have been affected by the calamity in the Mangan district, while 6,895 people were affected in Pakyong, 2,579 in Namchi, and 2,570 people in Gangtok.
The state government has set up 26 relief camps in the four affected districts.
